The mud that thaws the frozen heart
by A-Croissant
Summary: Winter has found himself back at the Jade Academy for a fresh school year, but he's been avoiding his normal friends for fear of embarrassment. Once his first class begins, he notices that Umber has been unusually kind to him, unlike any other dragon ever has. A single quill begins an admiration from Winter to Umber, but it soon turns into something more. no longer updating, sorry!
1. Back at Jade Mountain Academy

Winter's eyes snapped open. He was lying down on his stone bed, the rock's chilly surface was right at home with his freezing scales. Winter sat up and outstretched his wings. The cave he was in was empty and dark. As he stood up, Winter wondered what woke him.

Then he heard a loud knock on his cave door. Winter groggily stood up and pried open the rock blocking his only exit. Waiting outside of the door was Clay.

"Ah, you're up!" Clay said with a smile. Winter nodded, trying to keep his eyes open. "I'm afraid to say that you're one of the last dragons still in their caves. Everyone else is eating breakfast in the Prey Center."

"Hm.. fine." Winter said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "I'll be out in due time." Winter attempted to close the door, but Clay poked his head into the room.

"I know that we've had an eventful last few months, but now that school is back in session, we all have to continue our old routines. You received a new schedule, right?" Clay attempted to sound kind. "There are 5 new dragons from each tribe here now, so there will be more potential friends for you to meet."

Winter narrowed his eyes at this comment.

"I'll see you in my class soon, I hope."

"Yep." Winter finally managed to close the door. He rummaged through the mess that was his desk and grabbed his satchel. The white cow-hide satchel contained Winter's scrolls and papers. As Winter left his cave, he remembered that he hadn't even touched the satchel in almost three months. So much had happened in those two months, dragons had died, a war broke out, Darkstalker had been defeated, the Plantean dragons had been helped.

Winter encountered a few dragons walking down the hall. Familiar faces passed him, such as Sora, Arid, Alba, and Pronghorn. But he missed the familiar faces that he had come to know.

His friends.

He hadn't seen them in 2 months. Ever since the plantean dragon arrived and they left, Winter had been alone. Turtle, Kinkajou, Peril, Qibli, and … Moon. Winter twitched his wings.

 _No Winter._ He thought. _Moon is dating Qibli. You should be happy for her. She is your friend after all._ Winter nodded to himself. He wouldn't be sad. He didn't need a dragon from a different tribe. It would go against everything he'd ever been taught. _I mustn't fantasize of dating a dragon of a different tribe, especially not a NightWing._

Winter knew that his friends did come back from their adventures, but he didn't want to face them again. After Qibli and Moon began dating, Winter avoided them. It was already embarrassing enough for Moon to have known that he had shown interest in her, but Qibli would never let him hear the end of it.

Lost in thought, Winter ran into a skinny NightWing. He tripped over her, as she was rather small, and his satchel spilled open. Scrolls, ink, and assorted papers lay strewn across the floor. "Oh, sorry!"The Nightwing attempted to help him pick up his scrolls.

"Watch where you're going, NightWing." He hissed. The NightWing nodded quickly and ran past him. Winter bent over and scooped his satchel's contents at once. "Pesky dragonets." He said under her breath.

Continuing on his path, Winter heard the sound of rowdy dragons screeching at each other. That horrible noise belonged to hungry dragonets in the Prey Center. He turned a corner and saw tables full of dragons of every tribe, all noisily eating. Some of them were getting up and going back for seconds, and even more were chasing their prey around the room.

Winter grumbled and joined the dragons waiting in line. His eyes scanned the sitting dragons, looking for faces that were friendly. All he saw were unknown snouts and his friends.

 _Is it even proper to call them 'friends' if I'm avoiding them? They're more like "Winglet members."_ Winter picked up a fish from the stone table with assorted meats and fruits on it. The fish, a tuna, was slimy, and it reeked of sea water. Winter turned up his nose in disgust. _We certainly never had food presented in such a poor way in the Ice Palace._ He shook his head and began walking to a small table which was completely ignored by other dragons.

 _If only Icicle was here._ Winter sat down. _She would keep me company, and it would nice to have another competent royal around._

Winter's first bite of the tuna was about as good as his morning had been; cold, gross, and underwhelming. He much preferred the polar bear legs that he had been served at the palace…

"No Winter." He said under his breath. "Stop comparing this cave to the beauty of the wonderful Ice Palace. You're not going back there. You've caused enough trouble there already."

After taking another bite of his tuna, Winter glanced around the cave. The Prey Center allowed for plenty of natural light, illuminating all the dragons inside perfectly. He was finally able to look at every dragon at the right distance.

As he scanned the crowd, he found his friends sitting in at a circular group. Kinkajou was turning a new color every second, Turtle watched her intently, Peril was having a conversation with Qibli, and Moon sat next to Qibli. Their tails were intertwined. Winter looked away quickly, pushing the lump in his throat down with another bite of tuna.

He quickly diverted his eyes to the other side of the room. The table with the most dragonets was full of MudWings. Winter recognized the larger ones as Reed, Marsh, Sora, and Pheasant. Winter didn't recognize the other MudWings, but he noticed a moving lump behind Reed. All the dragons were mostly turned away from him, and those who weren't paying any attention to him.

Then the lump moved.

It was Umber.

Umber stared at Winter for what seemed like an eternity, then quickly moved to be out of sight. Winter was suddenly greeted a few old memories of seeing Umber around his friends. He was always quiet and shy, Winter never really noticed him.

The bell for the student's first period rang, and Winter, with the rest of the Prey Center, made his was to his first period class, history.

Winter found the classroom easily, as it was near the dorm rooms. Upon entering the classroom, Winter found his old history teacher, Webs.

"Ahhh,… Winter, right?" Webs said. Winter nodded.. Other than him, no one else had arrived. "I'm glad to see you. Your seat is in the back of the class." Webs pointed to a table with two chairs in the back-right corner of the cave. Winter nodded and took his seat.

One by one, dragons filed into the cave, each taking a seat. Eventually, every seat filled up, except for two. One at the front of the class, and the one next to Winter.

 _That's fine._ Winter unlatched his satchel. _I prefer privacy. It reminds me of the private tutor at the Ice Palace._ He knew he shouldn't have thought of the palace, but the thought was nice.

"Alright everyone." Webs closed the door. "You all know me, but I don't know you very well. Everyone tell the class your name, and an adjective to describe yourself."

Winter scoffed at the idea of trivial activities such as this, but it did give him an opportunity to memorize names.

"Witty Winter." He said as it was his turn. He was too busy memorizing names to properly think of a better adjective. Winter noticed that Kinkajou and Turtle were also in his class. _If it had to be any of my friends, I'm glad its them. They won't judge me. They're not like that._

Eventually all names had been said. "Very good everyone." Webs nodded. "Now let's begin going over needed materials." He moved to the chalk board and was about to reach for a chalk piece when the door knocked. "I wonder who that could be." Webs opened the door.

Marsh and Umber walked into the class. "I'm sorry, sir." Marsh wheezed. "Our schedules were mixed up, and we had to go to the office." Umber nodded. The two looked completely out of breath.

"That's quite alright." Webs stepped closer to them. "Marsh, your seat is up front, next to Arid, and Umber, you sit back there next to Winter." Marsh took his seat. Umber quickly maneuvered around the desks to get to Winter.

"Hi Winter." Umber said cheerily as he took his seat.

"Uhhhh, hi Umber." Winter watched as he sat down and opened his own satchel.

"Back to the schedule, everyone get out your ink and quills." Webs began to write "MATERIALS" on the chalkboard. "You will be writing them down for your history scroll's protective cover. Winter rummaged through his satchel and grabbed his scroll cover and his ink well, but he couldn't find his quill.

"Oh narwhal dung." He said under his breath.

"What happened?" Umber asked, putting his own materials on his desk.

"I seem to have forgotten my quills." Winter huffed.

"Oh, I'll give you one of mine!" Umber passed a quill over to Winter's talons.

"W-….what?" Winter held the quill in his claws.

"You can have it!" Umber smiled.

"You mean it?" Winter asked with concern in his eyes. "You're just going to give it to me? No strings attached?"

"None at all." Umber picked up his own quill and began writing.

Winter stared at the quill. No one had ever given him anything without asking for anything in return. In the palace, he had always had to do a tedious chore to even be rewarded with a meal.

This simple kind gesture from another dragon had completely thrown Winter off. Umber, whether knowing it or not, had earned admiration from the young IceWing prince.

But Winter wouldn't be fast to admit it.


	2. Definitely

The next hour of history class passed quickly. Winter scribbled down notes onto his scrolls with the quill. Every so often, he stole a glance at Umber, making sure he wouldn't steal the quill back. Winter was still awe struck at Umber's act of kindness.

 _Stop acting like a hatchling, Winter._ He tried to stop himself. _Dragons do things like this often, Umber is just trying to be nice._

Winter was snapped out of his thoughts by Webs ending his lecture. He began to pack up his own materials. "I hope to see you all tomorrow, dragonets. Your next teacher should arrive in a few minutes."

"Next teacher arriving?" A SkyWing in the front row raised his talon. "I thought we all transitioned into our own next classes in different caves.

"That was the original idea." Webs gestured with his talons. "But this year, we will be changing that. You students will all stay in their respective class rooms, like this one. The teachers will come and go to teach."

"So that means we're stuck with these classmates for the whole year?" A SandWing wrinkled his snout.

"Well, I wouldn't say you're stuck with them," Webs opened the door. "But yes. Have a good day, students." He said as he left.

"Well, that's certainly different." Umber chuckled.

"Indeed." Winter said gently. "Say, Umber. When did you get back?" Umber looked confused.

"Get back?"

" You and Sora ran off one day, and I didn't know you ventured back here."

"Oh, that.'' Umber furled his brow. "Well, Sora and I had a bit of a fight, and I convinced her to come back to the MudWing kingdom. She's currently working in Queen Tourmaline's palace as a servant." He added the last part to ease Winter's confused stare. "Queen Moorhen and Queen Tourmaline made an agreement that she can work there for about a year to make up for the death of Carnelien. I came back here to get a better education."

"Makes sense." Winter nodded. "That sounds like something Queen Tourmaline would do."

"What about you?" Umber asked. "Why did you come back here? I thought you had your scavenger sanctuary."

"I do, it's just…" Winter frowned. "Not many dragons feel like investing business with a 5 year old dragonet, much less one with not much proper schooling." He scoffed. "How foolish of them. I bet I could have put in a good word with IceWing royals for them….though maybe not after everything that happened a few months ago." Memories of Hailstorm and the diamond trials flashed through his head.

"I guess we both have some family troubles." Umber sighed. "But those problems will get better. I'm sure of it." He smiled at Winter. Winter returned the smile, but his was a bit shakier.

The door opened once more, this time a different light green SeaWing entered the class. "Hello there!" He said. "I'm your reading teacher, Prince Fin. You may know me as one of Tsunami's older brothers. I was a cartographer until she offered me this position."

"Aw man, reading right after history?" Umber said quietly as he wrung his talons.

Winter looked at him with concern. "What do you mean, Umber?"

"It's nothing, its just that I'm not very good at either of those subjects." Umber shrugged slightly.

"Really?" Winter asked. "Aren't they easy?"

"Not for me." Umber sighed. His face fell a bit, and Winter realized that had sounded meaner than he meant.

"I didn't mean it like that!" He opened his wings. Umber looked at him. "I can provide assistance to you. We do sit next to each other, after all."

"You mean it?" Umber's eyes perked up.

"Of course." Winter smiled. He quickly caught himself. "I mean, if you help me with classes I struggle in."

"Sure! What classes would those be?" Umber asked.

"Well, there's nothing that I truly struggle in, but IceWings pride themselves on excellent academic performance." Winter dusted off his arm. Umber raised his eyebrow slightly. "But I would like to improve my 'Herbs and Healing' abilities."

"I can help you with that." Umber nodded.

"So it's a deal?" Winter replied.

"Yep! Let's shake on it." Umber extended a claw. Winter slowly offered his own, and Umber grasped it.

 _His claws are so soft._ Winter thought as they shook claws. He quickly shook himself out of this thought.

"And that's pretty much all you'll need for this class." Fin concluded at the front of the room. Winter and Umber had both whispered over his speech.

"Did you catch any of that?" Umber subtly pointed to the front of the room.

"Not one word." Winter said. The two chuckled for a moment, looking at each other. Winter suddenly broke off, turning his head to the front of the room. He could feel Umber's eyes on him for a few seconds more before taking notes from their teacher's second speech.

After 2 more class periods, 'herbs and healing' and math, all dragonets made their way to the Prey Center. Umber followed Marsh over to a table with their siblings. Winter sighed and made his way back to the table that he sat at for breakfast. He did this after grabbing a few chickens for his meal.

As he sat, a familiar voice pierced his ears. "Hi Winter!" Winter looked up to see Kinkajou and Turtle.

"Oh, hello Kinkajou." Winter gulped a bite of chicken down. "And Turtle."

"We saw you in our classroom." Turtle said. "You're sitting next to Umber, right?"

"Hmm, yes." Winter quickly stared down at his chicken.

"Do you want to sit with us?" Kinkajou asked. "Our table has place for one more."

Winter shook his head. "No, thank you. I am quite fine here."

Turtle attempted to say something, but Kinkajou cut him off. "Why not? Its no fun to be all by yourself."

"I prefer to be alone sometimes." Winter glared at her. "Just leave me to be alone, ok?" Kinkajou and Turtle looked at each other and slowly backed away. Turtle whispered something to Kinkajou, but Winter couldn't hear it.

Winter didn't want to be alone. But he certainly didn't want to see Qibli all over Moon. Being alone was what he was used to. He could be alone this school year. He would survive.

Winter began to scan the tables again, as he had nothing to do. He found the table of his friends again. They weren't laughing but instead talking amongst themselves with concerned looks on their faces.

 _They're talking about me. They know I'm acting strange. But this shouldn't be a surprise today. I've always been standoffish._ Winter sighed.

His eyes settled on the MudWing table again. All the MudWing siblings were laughing and talking with large smiles on their faces.

However, Umber wasn't at the table. Winter wondered where he could be.

"H.. Hi Winter."

Winter almost fell out of his seat.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry!" Once Winter was able to sit back up in his seat, he saw that it was Umber.

"For the love of all the queens!" Winter breathed heavily. "You startled me."

"I really didn't mean it." Umber curled his tail into a ball.

"Why are you here?" Winter asked, a little more hostile than he meant.

"I noticed that you were sitting here by yourself." Umber said sheepishly. "I didn't want you to be all alone. I know that being alone is terrible." Winter's breaths slowed, returning to their normal rate.

"That's very kind of you, but if you want to return to your siblings, I won't mind." Winter said. He added "If you want to stay, that's fine, too."

"Ok, thanks." Umber smiled a bit. "My siblings are great, but they're rowdy and loud. You're quiet and calm, which is just what I need." Winter felt flattered that someone had given him a compliment.

Winter attempted to fill the awkward silence that followed with "So, what are you eating today?"

"A polar bear leg." Umber gestured to his stone plate. There was indeed a polar bear leg on his table.

"A polar bear leg? They serve those here?" Winter asked with a frown on his face. "I've been eating normal dragon food when I could be eating delicacies from the Ice Kingdom!" He quickly stood up and ran to the lunch line. Once he arrived, there was only one small leg. Winter begrudgingly took it.

"That leg is a bit small, do you want to trade?" Umber questioned Winter once he sat down. "I'd rather have your chicken anyway. They didn't have any when I went to the line."

Winter nodded slowly. "Are you sure? Polar bear legs are rather good."

"Yes, I like chicken." Umber switched their plates and beamed at Winter before shoving an entire chicken in his mouth. Winter snorted at this sight. "Vhats so funmy?"

"It's just that I've never seen anyone do that before." Winter took a bite of his own food. "At the Ice Palace, everyone ate their food so politely. And here you are, being bold."

"Well, I've never been to a palace before." Umber shrugged. "But I'm sure you have great memories from there."

"Heh, well I did. Now I'm out here, in the real world, and I'm pretty much exiled from the Ice Kingdom." Winter poked at his food.

"What? Why?" Umber asked.

Winter explained everything to Umber, from the beginning of Icicle's attempted murder of the dragonets of destiny, to the Hailstorm quest. Once he finished with the diamond trial story, he noticed that Umber hadn't once interrupted him, but had instead listened to him with an intent gaze.

"Those are amazing tales, Winter. And I'm sorry that you were forced out of the place you love." Umber said in a kind voice. "But hopefully you can find new opportunities here. Plus, you have your scavenger sanctuary once you're done here."

"That's very true, Umber. And thank you." Winter nodded slowly.

The bell rang once again. Umber departed from Winter's table and joined Marsh as they walked back to their classroom. Winter was alone with his thoughts again.

 _Umber talked and listened to me. Other than Moon, no one's ever done that with me for an extended period of time._ Winter thought as he walked down the corridor. _Maybe we can become friends._

Winter rejoined his class in their room. Umber waved at him from the back of the classroom.

 _Definitely._


	3. Alone, but not for long

The rest of Winter's day was standard. Each new teacher practically repeated the same speech that the one before them had, but somehow making it seem more boring. The school day finally ended with the music class.

"I trust I'll see you tomorrow?" Winter asked Umber. He gathered his satchel and left to go to his dorm cave.

"Yep!" Umber said as they exited. They waved to each other as they went to their separate dorms. As soon as Winter entered his own cave, a sudden wave of sadness washed over him. He plopped himself onto his bed.

 _Why am I suddenly sad?_ Winter stared out his window. He saw a group of SkyWings taking flight in the school's courtyard. _I have an excellent schedule, good classmates and teachers, and Umb- … I mean, a dragon to study with._

Winter opened his satchel and pulled out his quill. It was made of many long ostrich feathers, with their total size being no bigger than his forearm. It's tip, covered in ink. It was a perfectly normal quill.

 _Then why do I feel weird about it?_ Winter sighed. _It must be the unexpected kindness. Nothing else._

After a few hours, the dinner bell rang. The surprise of Winter, the prey center was significantly less busy as it had been in the previous meal times. Only about half the dragons that could have gone to dinner appeared. Some of those who didn't return were the MudWing siblings and all royal SeaWings.

Winter grabbed two polar bear legs but did not return to his original table. He decided to join his friends at their table, mainly because Moon and Qibli were also not present.

"Winter!" Kinkajou's ears perked up as she saw him.

"Hello." Winter sat down at their table. Kinkajou immediately gave him a hug, which he tried to shrug off. Kinkajou wouldn't let go for what seemed like an eternity.

"So, you've decided to sit with us now?" Peril asked, with a slightly angry tone.

"Yes. I preferred to sit alone for the first two meals." Winter answered quickly.

"What about Umber?" Turtle bit into his tuna. "He sat with you during lunch."

"T- that's nothing. He simply wanted to get to know me slightly better, since we will be spending this school year right next to each other. It's better to know your peers than to sit in ignorance." Winter shoved a hunk of polar bear leg into his mouth.

"Or is it because the love birds were here?" Peril's voice dripped with sarcasm. Winter stared at her.

 _Does she know?_ Winter silently panicked. _I thought I hid my emotions well. Moon may have known, Qibli too, but I never thought they would blab about me like that. Those traitors._

Peril sighed. "Don't act like you didn't notice them. They've been all over each other ever since Darkstalker was of us enjoy it when they start showing PDA."

"I happen to think it's cute." Kinkajou huffed. "Right Turtle?"

"Ok, everyone but Kinkajou dislikes it." Peril raised an eyebrow.

 _They just think I don't want to sit around the two because they're constantly expressing affection?_ Winter's rapid breathing slowed down. _Fine, fine, that's good. They're still oblivious. Perfect._

"Yes, I never seem to enjoy when two dragons are practically drooling over each other in public." Winter said nobly. "They may be my friends, but I lose my appetite when I see that."

"Oh, Winter, we never told you. Turtle and I are dating!" Kinkajou grabbed Turtle's arm, causing Turtle's face to flush bright red.

"What?!" Winter almost spat out his food. "You are?"

"Oh, uhhh…. yes." Turtle forced out. "We started dating a while back, around the same time when Moon and Qibli did."

"Geez Winter," Peril said. "Are you ok?"

Winter coughed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

 _Kinkajou and Turtle are dating? So now it's not just Moon and Qibli, but Kinkajou and Turtle. Great, more PDA. More loneliness for me._ Winter hung his head slightly.

"Tell him about you, Peril." Kinkajou nodded encouragingly. Now it was Peril's turn to flush red.

"Well, umm, …." She squeaked. "Clay and I just started dating, too."

"You, too?!" Winter clenched his talons.

Peril nodded. "Clay told me that he was ready to pursue a relationship about a week ago, so we just began."

"Well good for you three." Winter said with a harsh voice. _So now all of my friends are in relationships. Even Peril, the flaming mess. I'm the only one all alone._

"What about you, Winter?" Kinkajou asked. "Do you have a significant other?"

"No." Winter didn't bother to sugar coat the truth.

"I'm sure you'll find someone." Turtle said reassuringly.

"Thanks Turtle." Winter forced himself to say.

 _But what if I don't? I don't want to be like Mother and Father, forced into a relationship for the sake of the First Circle. They ended up hating each other, even up to the day that Father died. I want to marry someone because I love them. Moon was the only dragon I ever loved._

Peril interrupted Winter's thoughts. "Cheer up, Winter. I'm not saying that any of us are going to break up, but many dragons our age do."

"Right, remember Pike and Anemone?" Turtle nodded.

"Can that even be counted as a relationship?" Kinkajou grimaced. "It fell apart so quickly, and we all now know that Anemone is a lesbian."

"Snail and Barracuda had a nasty break up." Peril interrupted. "They were so happy together, and then their relationship fell apart within a month. They won't even speak to each other anymore." She shuddered. "See Winter? Love isn't always what it's cracked up to be."

"I sure know that." Winter sighed and finished his meal. "Thanks guys, I'll see you tomorrow at dinner. I'm going back to my dorm." He left before he could hear their goodbyes.

Winter trudged to his dorm and threw himself onto his bed. Within moments, he had fallen asleep.

* * *

The next school days passed normally. Winter took notes during his classes, sat with Umber during lunch and his friends during dinner, and visited the library during his free time.

The library provided him with a quiet environment where he could think and learn on his own time. Not many dragons decided to spend time there, and Winter was the only dragon who came every day.

Other than Moonwatcher.

Winter tried to avoid her, but on Friday evening, she approached him.

"Hi Winter." She said cheerily.

"Oh, hello Moon." Winter looked up from his book.

"What brings you here?" She asked him.

"Peace and quiet." He said. "What about you?"

"The same thing. The only mind that I hear in this room is Starflight's, so its rather nice to not be bombarded by dragon's racing thoughts." She turned her head to Starflight's table and then back to Winter. Winter suddenly became very aware of the pouch on his arm that contained skyfire.

"Hmm, yes. That sounds logical." Winter nodded slightly.

"Well, I better get back to my reading and then my dorm. Bye Winter." Moon excused herself, giving Winter a wave of relief.

 _She didn't judge me, she didn't say anything to me about the past. Thank the three moons._

Winter looked at his book, ''Effective Habits of Successful Dragons."Winter had chosen this book since he had wanted to better himself for his scavenger sanctuary business. He stole a glance at the clock hanging above the entrance to the cave. The time was 8:30 PM, almost time for students to return to their dorms for the night.

He left the library after checking out his book. Winter's dorm room happened to be near the library in addition to his classroom.

Winter shoved the rock door in front of the dorm's entrance and entered. He placed his book onto his desk and yawned. Dusting off his bed, he sat down on it. Then he began to slip into sleep.

* * *

Sharp knocks from his door woke Winter up. He jolted out of bed and threw open the rock door. Standing behind the door was Umber, who tensed up slightly. He held his satchel and a few brown bags full of miscellaneous things.

"Umber?" Winter asked.

"Umm, hi." Umber waved slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Winter scanned Umber to make sure he hadn't come to stab him. "Isn't it after 'lights out'?"

"It is, but I … well…" Umber stuttered. "Well Clay had originally put me and Peril in a dorm room together, since we are in the same winglet. But since Peril has the whole fire thing going on," Umber gestured violently. "the headmasters wanted her to have a dorm room to herself so she wouldn't burn her roommates. And she already kinda did." Umber pointed to a burn mark on his tail.

"Clay looked around for an open dorm with a Jade Winglet member, and the only open one was….." He paused. "yours."

Winter said nothing.

"C… come inside then." Winter slid to the side of the door and Umber walked in.

 _So now I'm sharing a room with Umber?_ Winter cleared off the bed above his. _The dragon that I share all of my classes with is now my roommate. My last roommate was Qibli, and we were constantly arguing._

"I'm sorry if I get in your way, Winter." Umber placed his brown bag on the desk next to Winters.

"You won't, I'm sure." Winter said, not entirely sure if this statement would be true or not. He finished moving his items off of Umber's bed. "Do you want some help?"

"Oh yes, that would be great!" Umber smiled. "Could you take this bag and put it's contents on my bed?" He handed Winter one of his brown bags. Winter nodded and flapped his wings enough to sit on the bed.

 _What are you, Winter, a slave? You shouldn't be doing another dragon's work for them._ Winter grimaced at this thought. _No, I'm helping Umber. It's what friends do._

 _Wait, friends? Are we friends?_ Winter turned to look at Umber. _I guess we are._ He caught himself smiling.

"I guess this means we can study for our tests better now." Umber said, breaking Winter's train of thought. Winter opened the bag and began to pull out a large blanket made of palm tree leaves.

"That's true." Winter pulled out a pillow made of a similar material. "We can provide assistance to each other with homework as well."

"Yep!" Umber said cheerily. "Say, don't we have a pre-test on history on Monday? Can you help me with that?"

"Of course." Winter replied. He quickly added "But you have to help me with the herbs and healing project on Tuesday." Umber nodded and returned to unpacking his bags.

The last item in Umber's bag was a smooth rock. Winter stared at it.

"Umber, why do you have a rock in your bag?" Winter asked with genuine curiosity.

"Oh that." Umber chuckled slightly. "Crane gave that to me the day before she died."

Winter paused.

"It's ok Winter, I like to keep it. It's not bad. I remember all the good moments I had with her when I look at it." Umber forced a small smile. Silence filled the dorm room.

 _I wish I had something to remember the good times I had with Icicle. If there even were enough._

"Where would you like it?" Winter broke the silence.

"On my desk, please." Umber moved his papers to leave a blank space for the rock. Winter joined Umber on the ground and placed the rock in that space.

"I think it looks good there." Winter told Umber.

"Thank you." Umber said quietly.

Then Winter did something he would never had thought he would do.

He gave Umber a hug.

"I…I know how you feel." Words escaped Winter's mouth. "It will get better, I swear."

Umber hugged back. Winter heard a sniffle from him. "T-…thank you, Winter. That means a lot."

Winter finished hugging Umber and nodded slowly.

"I suggest we should go to bed." He said. Umber returned the nod and flew up to his bed. Winter extinguished the torch illuminating their room and laid down in his own bed.

"Goodnight Winter." Umber said with a small yawn

Winter didn't say anything. In his old dorm last year, no one had said that to him. Qibli had always fallen asleep without saying anything. Just the night before, no one had said anything to him. It was only him and silence.

"erm.." Winter stuttered. "Goodnight, Umber." He could hear Umber shifting over to his other side in his bed.

 _There's a dragon in my room now._ Winter thought as he closed his eyes. _I see him during the day, now I see him at night. He's my roommate and fellow classmate._

 _He's my friend._

 _My last roommate was someone I didn't enjoy bunking with. We fought. We wanted the same girl. He won._

 _This roommate? I do like bunking with him. We haven't fought once yet. We've both been through so much. We've both practically lost a sister._

 _I enjoy his company. I like spending time with him. Unlike my old roommate,_

 _I like him._


	4. Nightmares

Winter was nearly thrown out of his bed by a yelp. He had been resting incredibly deeply, as Umber's gentle snores had lulled him sleep. Winter quietly sat up and listened, making sure that he had woken to a sound and not a dream's end.

The cave around him was dead silent. The only noise Winter heard were a few gusts of wind drifting through the dorm window. Judging by the lack of any light from outside, he deduced that it was midnight. Winter was about to fall back asleep, but then he heard another noise.

A light sob.

Then nothing.

Winter heard another sob, but from above him.

 _Umber?_ Winter stood up and listened to make sure. Once again, he heard Umber cry. He hovered up to the top bunk.

"Umber?" Winter found Umber wiping tears from his eyes.

"Oh Winter, I'm so sorry." Umber sniffled. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"What happened? Why are you crying?" Winter heaved himself onto the bunk, sitting across from Umber.

"It's nothing, really." Umber forced a small smile, but his eyes still glistened with tears.

"No, it's not nothing." Winter allowed a bit of a stern voice to seep through, while still sounding kind. "You've woken up crying." Umber looked down at his claws. He clenched them and unclenched them slowly.

"You don't have to tell me, but if you want to, I'm here." Winter said with genuine concern. He placed a claw onto Umber's.

Umber sighed heavily, pushing sobs down. "Ok." He put his other claw onto Winter's. "I had a….war nightmare." He braced himself, as if Winter would laugh at him. Winter only looked at him, with a concerned face.

"Can I go on?" Umber sighed a bit.

"Of course." Winter nodded. "Whatever will make you feel better, I'll help you with.

"T-thanks." Umber smiled genuinely. It was a small smile, but it was good to see. Winter suddenly felt warmer inside, but he couldn't pay much attention to it while Umber was still sad.

"I occasionally get nightmares from the SandWing Succession war." Umber said. "Its like a horrible flashback to the worst battles. The most common nightmare I get is the battle of the Diamond Spray Delta. I had that dream tonight." His voice faltered slightly as he said the last part.

Winter recognized that battle's name. It was the one battle that Icicle fought in. He knew what Umber would say before it came out of his mouth.

"Every time, I dream that Sora, Reed, Crane, and I all are patrolling the border, when a group of IceWings attack. Reed and I ward off the 4 biggest IceWings without getting severely injured. But then, Sora gets cornered with an IceWing. The IceWing rears up to blow her ice breath and is about to hit her." Umber continued.

"But Crane throws herself in front of Sora…she gets hit. Sora screams." Umber paused, tears beginning to fill his eyes. Winter tensed up and placed his other claw onto Umber's.

"Then Crane,…"He paused. "She….She…." Umber's voice broke. "Dies. Right in front of us." Sobs broke free from Umber. He began crying even harder.

Without thinking, Winter slid across the bunk and offered him a hug. Umber leaned into him, and Winter closed his wings around him. Soft gasps and tears occasionally came out of Umber. Winter placed his head on top of Umber's own and closed his eyes.

"I know it hurts." Winter whispered. He could feel Umber nodding slightly. "But you will feel better. She's in a better place." Umber sighed into Winter's wing.

"I'm glad for her." Umber agreed. "But I miss her so much. She was an amazing sister, she was the only level headed one. And she was the only one who I told…." His sentence was interrupted by another sob. Winter didn't understand what he meant, but he moved his claws to Umber's back to give him more reassurance that he would be ok.

"When my father passed, my brother told me that while that we will always have a hole in our hearts for those that we lost, the wound around it will heal as time goes on." Winter said, trying to keep his own tears from spilling. "We miss the dragons we lost, but we have the amazing memories that we created with them."

"You're right, Winter." Umber wiped a tear out of his eye. "You are." Winter quickly hopped out of the bunk and ran over to Umber's desk. He returned to the top bunk with the rock.

"Remember, Crane loved you so much. This rock she gave you is a symbol of the love and good times you had together." Winter placed the rock into Umber's talons.

Umber sniffed. He clutched the rock close to his chest. "I'll never forget those moments. And I'll never forget your and your brother's words. Thank you, Winter." Umber smiled at Winter.

"Of course, Umber." Winter smiled back. "Do you feel better?" Umber nodded. "Ok, I'm going to back to bed. Wake me if you need anything." The last sentence escaped Winter's mouth before he thought about it. He blamed it on his sleepiness.

He was about to sit back down in his bed before he heard Umber again.

"Winter?"

"Yes?"

"Do you….do you think you could sleep on the pullout bunk?" Umber asked. Winter froze, but replied suddenly.

"Sure." Winter flew up to the bunk adjacent to Umber's and began to pull out a stone slab from it. The slab was meant for overcrowded dorm rooms, but it could easily be pulled out for dragons wanting more bunk room.

Umber blushed slightly. "Thanks Winter, it's what my siblings used to do for me. It helps me calm down after those dreams." He shuddered.

Winter finished setting up the double bunk and arranged his sleeping items on it. "I'm glad that you had siblings who treated you like that." He said.

"What do you mean?" Umber asked.

"My siblings and I always fought for a higher status in the first circle." Winter sighed. "Once Hailstorm was taken from us, Icicle treated me like I was less than narwhal dung. She disliked me greatly."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Umber laid down. "I hope that we will get together better, at least."

Winter also laid down. "I'm sure we will." He said softly.

"Goodnight Winter." Umber closed his eyes.

Winter still hadn't adjusted to that phrase. "Goodnight Umber."

Moments passed.

 _Did all of that really just happen?_ Winter tossed himself onto his back. _Umber began crying, I comforted him, I … hugged him. Now I'm up here._ He sat up. _Winter, what is wrong with you? You've known this dragon for about a week, and now you're letting him walk all over you. You're royalty, you should know better._

A small voice in the back of his head came to the front of his thoughts. _He's suffering from the same things you were. He needed comfort. Have a heart, Winter._

He sighed. _Look at you Winter. Getting all flustered and confused over just simple MudWing-_

"He's not just a MudWing!" He hissed under his breath, burying his face in his claws. He quickly looked over at Umber, who was still sleeping peacefully.

Winter sighed even louder than before and laid back down.

He felt something on his hand. Winter almost jolted up to see what it was.

It was Umber's claw. It laid above his, almost clutching it.

Winter's face flushed bright blue.

 _Do I move it? No, that would disturb him. But I….I….._ Winter put his head back down.

 _I'll leave it there. It's not bothering me, and he needs rest._ Winter assured himself.

The last thought before he drifted back to sleep was _His claws are so soft._


	5. Studying and Supposes

Rays of sunlight slowly drifted into Winter's dorm room. A slight breeze passed over him, notifying him of its presence. He slowly woke up to the sun stretching above the sky, already half risen.

Winter yawned and stretched out his wings, still half asleep. His left wing seemed to be normal, but his right wing felt peculiar. It seemed to be slightly sore and elevated higher than his other one. He moved it again. The stone bunk where his wing should have been felt warm. Winter opened his eyes and looked to his right.

His wing was on top of Umber.

Winter tensed up and froze. His breathing became rapid and he sensed his snout turning blue once more.

 _Heavens above, why does this keep happening to me?_ Winter's eyes shot around the room, looking for anything to replace the space above Umber with. _Get a hold of yourself, Winter. Being asleep does not mean that you can lose control like this._

He was about to move his wing slowly when the dorm room door burst open.

"WINTER I HAVE SOMETHING TO ASK YOU" Kinkajou practically yelled into the room. Papers flew around the room and the door slammed into the wall. The noise of the door caused Umber to awake with a snort. Winter practically snapped his wing back into it's socket.

"Winter did you just have your wing on Um-" Kinkajou asked but was cut off by Winter.

"NO." He said sharply. Kinkajou just stared at Winter, then Umber, then Winter. She narrowed her eyes a bit but continued.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to study for the pretest in history. Turtle and Qibli are gonna study with us." Kinkajou said.

"Fine. But Umber and I are going to study later, so I need to be back by dinner." Winter hopped off his bed. Only after he said the Umber sentence did he truly realize what he said. He turned to look back at Umber, but he had fallen back to sleep. Once Winter followed Kinkajou out of the room did he say "But, I mean, it doesn't really matter."

Kinkajou didn't notice his last words. "So you have a Umber as a roommate now?" Winter nodded, hoping Kinkajou would move on to a different subject. "Turtle had him last year, too."

"He did?" Winter thought aloud. "What did Turtle think about him?"

"Not sure." Kinkajou shrugged a bit. "But you can ask him!" Winter continued walking, unsatisfied with the answer he received.

Kinkajou led him into the library where Turtle and Qibli already sat at a table. "Hey guys!" she exclaimed.

"Hi Kinkajou. I see you've brought everyone's favorite IceWing with you." Qibli looked up from his scroll. Winter sighed. _Now I remember the other reason why I didn't want to sit with my friends._ Winter groaned.

"Let's start with the basics." Turtle picked up his own scroll.

"Turtle, this is a pre-test. This is about what we think we know. It's not going to be that serious." Qibli said, with only a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, I know that, but it's important to study a bit before." Turtle replied. "Better be prepared than be scared, that's what mother used to say."

"Can we just start?" Winter said. "I'm tired because someone woke me up early." He glared at Kinkajou.

"Oh, hush." Kinkajou stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "You needed to wake up anyway. Mornings are best spent awake and I didn't want you to waste all of it when you could have been spending time with us."

"I'm not a morning dragon." Winter grumbled.

"Ahem." Qibli pointed at Turtle. "We need to study."

Turtle flinched slightly. "Ummm, thank you. I guess we should start with-"

Winter barely paid attention to what Turtle read from his scroll. His mind was elsewhere.

 _These childish study sessions bring nothing other than fooling around. It's just like last year. Kinkajou would interrupt Turtle's reading with silly talk of fruits, Qibli would just bother everyone, and Moon…. She didn't really do anything._

 _I should be studying with Umber. We would be able to study properly. He could help me with herbs, I could help him with history and reading. It would be beneficial for both of us. Plus I could spend some more time with him…._

"Winter, do you have the answer?" Winter was brought out of his thoughts by Turtle.

"Uhh, what?" Winter tried to sound like he had been paying attention, but Qibli still raised an eyebrow.

"I asked you who the first MudWing queen was." Turtle repeated his question.

"It was Queen Um- I mean Queen Loam." Winter answered. _Why did I almost say Umber?_ He hissed at himself.

"Very good." Turtle nodded.

"Did you almost say Umber?" Qibli gestured one of his talons at Winter.

"No." Winter attempt sound as normal as possible, but his voice cracked slightly. "I did not."

"He is Winter's new roommate." Kinkajou told Qibli.

"He is? He's pretty cool." Qibli nodded. "It's a shame he ran off with his sister so quickly. I would have liked to know him better."

"Yeah, I guess he's cool." Winter sighed. _Must they talk about him now?_ "But let's get back to studying." He flipped his scroll onto it's back.

"Man Winter, you're more angsty than usually." Qibli emphasized his words. "Anything happen to you?"

"No, but I appreciate your concern." Winter said through his teeth. _Were they always this nosy?_

Qibli sighed and held his scroll to his eyes. "Alright."

The rest of the study session continued normally. Or at least as normal as Winter thought it would be. The small group spent an hour in the library, and about 10 minutes were spent actually working. 20 were spent listening to stories from Kinkajou, another 15 were used for observing a bird sitting outside of the window, and the last 15 were spent fighting over some topic that Winter couldn't remember.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of studying." Turtle sat back in his seat. "Let's just study later or something."

"Sounds good to me." Kinkajou pushed her chair under the table and practically ran out of the library, dragging Turtle behind her.

"I guess I should go wake Moon up." Qibli groaned as he stood up and popped his back. "She was asleep as Kinkajou woke me." Winter didn't say anything. The two parted ways and Winter reached his dorm room quickly.

He saw Umber sitting at his desk when he entered. "Oh Hi Winter!" He said cheerily.

Winter attempted not to remember the awkward situation that happened during the morning when he replied, "Hi Umber." He sat next to him at his desk.

"Say Winter," Umber began. "Did you have your wing on me this morning?" He asked with a pang of guilt in his voice. Winter's snout flushed red slightly.

"Uhmm… I don't remember, did I?" He managed to squeeze out.

"I'm not sure. I had just woken up, and I fell right back asleep." Umber shrugged. "But if it did happen, don't worry. I move a lot in my sleep a lot, too."

 _He…he just brushed it off?_ Winter wrinkled his snout ever so slightly. _Fascinating. I never thought that a dragon could just ignore something incredibly embarrassing._

"Do you want to go get breakfast before we start studying?" Umber itched at his talons.

"Yes, I need a break before I have another study session." Winter stood up. "My last one was a nightmare. We spent an absolute eternity staring at a bird. Then another bird landed on the same branch." He sighed exasperatedly.

"Really?" Umber giggled slightly. He quickly silenced himself, and a slight bit of redness appeared on his cheeks. "I mean, that sounds awful."

"You're right, I guess it wasn't really that bad." Winter smiled. "Shall we go?" Umber nodded, and the two of them left their cave. Winter managed to suppress any thoughts that wanted to tell him to grow up, stop being like this, or anything negative. He didn't want to let them get to him, not today at least.

They both soon arrived at the prey center and stood in line for food. Umber suggested that Winter try the dragon fruit. Winter picked it up and bit into it, mostly just to humor Umber, but he found that he seemed to like the taste.

"This is better than I had imagined." Winter gulped it down.

"What, you didn't trust my taste in food?" Umber pretended to be stern. Winter became flustered and wanted to tell him that he didn't mean that, but Umber chuckled and said, "It's alright, I'm just kidding."

 _He's so confident._ Winter grabbed another few dragon fruits and seal meat. _How does he do that? Back at the palace…. No, don't think of the palace. It's not the past, Winter. You need to live in the present._

His breakfast passed quickly. He and Umber exchanged stories, and everything was going well until an IceWing approached them.

"Well, well, well." She said. Winter recognized her as Alba, the Copper Winglet's IceWing student. "Prince Winter, hanging out with a lowly MudWing, most likely born near the Diamond Spray Delta. You know, where only the lowest born MudWings dwell."

Winter remembered seeing Alba at meeting between IceWing royals and IceWings in the third circle often. If memory served him correctly, she constantly tried to get higher in the rankings, and was always bitter if she couldn't. He was brought back into reality by a soft whimper coming from Umber.

"What did you just say?" Winter's voice dripped with anger. He asked more as a way for Alba to correct herself and walk away instead of as a question.

"I said that you're a pathetic IceWing for sitting with a peasant from another tribe." She huffed. "You're going against everything our tribe stands for; Power and pride. Here you are muddying up everything. His germs are probably contaminating your royal blood. I mean, just look at him." She gestured to Umber, who had shrunken slightly.

"He's tiny, he's disgusting. He can't even read properly." Alba scoffed. Thoughts raced through Winter's head as he looked at Umber, who was on the verge of tears.

 _What did she just say to him? How do I comment? What can I do?_ He thought panickily.

"He must have been born in the battlegrounds, since that's where mistakes happen." She scoffed. A single tear ran down Umber's snout as he pulled his wings over himself.

That was the last straw for Umber.

He grabbed Alba by the throat, pulling her over the table.

"L-let go of me!" She writhed under his talons.

"Listen here, you absolute pathetic waste of oxygen." Winter hissed at her. "I'll try to explain this in small words, since you clearly have no more than 2 brain cells. I don't know who you think you are, talking to him like that. There's a reason why you couldn't ascend to the second circle; It's because when you spoke, you lowered the IQ of the entire kingdom."

"You slimy slug." Alba managed to gasp for air. "Turning on your own kind like this, when I simply want to speak the truth."

"What an insightful thing to say." Sarcasm reeked from his voice. "It must have taken you weeks to come up with that one." He threw her onto the floor. "Now scram. I don't want to see you ever pestering Umber, who, for the record, has done more in the 1 week he's been here than you ever have in your entire life."

Alba spat ice at him, but Winter smacked it with his wing and spat some at her. She ran away quickly with her tail between her legs.

Silence echoed through out the prey center. Winter hadn't noticed, but every dragon had paused to stare at his attack on Alba.

"Way to go Winter!" A voice yelled. It was Kinkajou. Smatterings of applause came from different tables, but soon enough, the prey center resumed it's normal volume.

"Thank you, Winter." Umber sniffed. "But you really didn't have to do that."

"I did, Umber." Winter wiped a tear off Umber's snout. "Now she won't mess with you again."

Umber smiled gently. "But what if she tells an administrator?"

"She won't. She may be a terrible IceWing, but she's a loyal one. She wouldn't tell on her prince, IceWings don't do that. And Umber," Winter said. "Don't you ever listen to those words she said about you. You are worth so much more."

Umber turned a touch redder. "Winter, you have no idea how much that means to me."

"It's nothing." Winter's eyes twinkled. He finished the last dragon fruit. "I suppose we should go study now."

"I suppose we should." Umber stood from his seat and began walking to the dorm room. He paused and waited for Winter. Then they walked to their dorm room together.


	6. He's what?

The rest of the day passed quickly. Winter helped Umber with their reading and history homework by going over each question in detail. In turn, Umber brought Winter out to the school's courtyard to show off different types of plants that were crucial for the class.

Umber finished off his speech about common sage and turned to Winter. "Do you understand it better now?"

"Yes, much better. Thank you." Winter finished scribbling a note on his clipboard.

"You really don't have to take notes." Umber teased. "It's not very difficult to remember the main 5 herbs. And the healing part of the course is the hard part."

"For you, it might be." Winter followed Umber into the academy building. "In the Ice Kingdom, we had no plants, other than out esteemed moonglobe tree. However, it's artificially made, so it doesn't count. You grew up in a kingdom full of plants, no wonder you can identify them."

Umber raised an eyebrow slightly. "For that, we sacrificed proper education. I can't really read properly and I'm terrible at remembering history."

"I can't possibly imagine growing up in a kingdom under war where a dragon can't even learn how to read." Winter grimaced. "Then again, my palace tutors didn't teach much other than the history and glory of our tribe."

"We both needed to come here. It's better for us since we can learn with real teachers and other students. Plus, we can meet new dragons and make friends, like you!" Umber smiled at Winter.

 _I'm his friend?_ Winter stifled a noise in the back of his throat. _I mean, I thought I was, but I didn't know that it was official._

"I guess we should grab a bite to eat." Umber stared at the sky which had already begun to turn purple. "I love the sky's color tonight."

"I love your scale's color." Winter blurted.

Umber blushed slightly and turned to him. "Thanks, I really like yours, too."

Winter practically slapped himself. _Why did I say that? I must have sounded like a buffoon._ The two said nothings they sauntered to the prey center. Winter dreaded their dinner slightly. Umber had suggested that they sit with the members of their winglet, and Winter agreed, not really thinking about it. Now he would have to actually deal with Qibli and Moon.

They arrived at their friend's table too quickly for Winter's comfort. Everyone was already sitting at the table when they sat.

"Hi guys!" Kinkajou said cheerily. Winter sat next to Umber, since he was the only one who Winter had been around lately. Moonwatcher sat across from him, and to Winter's sadness, Qibli sat next to her. She closed a scroll she has been looking at.

"Hey Kinkajou." Umber replied. "Boy, it's sure been a while since I've seen you all."

"You ran off before we could really get to know you." Peril nodded.

"Hm?" Umber glanced at her confusedly.

"Remember, you ran off with Sora?" She added.

"Oh yeah. That." Umber's voice fell slightly.

"How is she anyway?" Moon spoke softly. Umber answered her, but Winter zoned out of the entire conversation. His head was began spinning, thinking about all the awkward interactions he had with Umber.

 _Why have I been acting so strange around him?_ Winter glanced to Umber. _It's not like I've never met a dragon like him before…. haven't I? There's just something about him, I can't describe it. He's kind, sweet, and perf-._ Winter shook himself. _He's got his flaws, we all do. Like….like…_ Winter sighed, slightly angry at himself that he couldn't think of any.

"So, Winter," Qibli said, snapping Winter back into the conversation. "How have you been lately?"

"I saw you this morning, Qibli. Nothing's changed in that small timeframe." Winter grumbled.

"Sooooo….. I'll take that as you've been fine." Qibli reacted unphased.

"How about you, Qibli?" Umber asked to break the tension.

"I'm good." Qibli nodded slowly. "Moon and my classes aren't hard, not yet at least."

"But we can help each other study." Moon said, gazing into her scroll.

"You're right." Qibli placed a wing around her and entwined his tail with hers.

 _Thank goodness for the skyfire pouch, or else Moon would hear my disgust._ Winter scowled slightly. _Honestly, must they display affection during dinner. I don't even have any food, but I already feel sick._

"Who wants to go get food with me?" Kinkajou asked as her stomach growled.

"I will." Umber and Winter said at the same time. Umber chuckled awkwardly as he noticed Winter had agreed. The three of them stood and went to the lunch line.

"I don't know about you, Umber, but the rest of us have been getting a bit tired of the two love doves." Kinkajou shook her head. "If Turtle and I are ever like that, slap me."

Umber laughed. "Ok, but I'm sure you won't act like that." Kinkajou grabbed a small basket of fish and some mangoes, Umber took a larger basket of chicken, and Winter gripped a seal. As they returned, Kinkajou gave the fish to Turtle.

 _That's the proper way of courtship._ Winter thought. _Just like how Mother and Father acted to each other in public, nice and subtle. Unlike the heartthrobs over there._ He looked at Qibli who was sharing his komodo dragon with Moon. _Bleh, that's how germs are spread. Meningitis, here they come._ He prodded at his seal.

"You ok, Winter?" Turtle asked. "You seem sad."

"I'm fine." Winter huffed slightly. "Just like how Qibli said." He bit into his seal to prove himself fine.

"a… alright." Turtle resumed eating his fish.

Conversation slowly resumed between the table. Winter quietly ate his food, only engaging when someone mentioned his name. He noted that Umber remained quiet as well. He seemed.. sad. Winter felt uncomfortable while dining all the time, but he didn't want Umber to feel that way either. Instinctively, he stood up.

"Thank you all for the companionship, but Umber and I still need to study, right Umber?" Winter said abruptly. Umber looked baffled but nodded.

"That's right." He agreed. "Let's go back to our dorm, Winter." They quickly excused themselves from the table and went out of the prey hall. Once they walked through the empty halls, Umber gave Winter a quick hug.

"Thank you, Winter." He said. "I was ready to leave but didn't want to say anything."

"Don't mention it." Winter coughed, trying to hide his awkwardness.

"I don't really feel like studying this late at night." Umber sighed. "What if we go to the pool?"

"There's a pool? This academy is full of surprises." Winter chuckled softly.

"Yeah, I didn't know either, but I overheard Turtle say it." Umber nodded. "So, do you want to go?"

"Sure." Winter had never had good experiences with water, like the time when Icicle kicked him into a freezing cold lake, or when fell into a frigid river and nearly froze solid. He was willing to make a new, hopefully better memory for Umber.

Umber lead Winter down a different hall that Winter had never been down and took a sharp left. The pool was in a room with glow worms on the ceiling who illuminated the room. They didn't help much however, as Winter nearly fell into the water. The pool itself was sunken 30 feet into the floor and had no easy access, meaning a dragon would have to jump in. That was exactly what Umber did.

"Come on in, Winter." Umber wiped water off from his face. "The waters warm!"

"Uhh.." Winter took a step back. "I'm not so sure about this."

"This pool may have been made for SeaWings, but it was made accessible for other dragon tribes, too. It won't hurt you, Winter." Umber said.

Winter wouldn't budge.

"Its ok, it's not really as far a jump as it looks." Umber stood on a rock in the center in the water. "I can help you."

"No, no. It's fine." Winter's voice faltered slightly. _An IceWing shouldn't need the help of anyone._ He walked closer to the edge. _I can do this. All I need to do is join Umber in the water. That's it. It's just water, and your friend. Umber wants this, so I need to-_

He took another step and the ground seemed to have vanished. Winter fell forward. At the angle he was falling, he was going to hit the rock Umber was on. _This is how I die. Falling face forward onto a rock in a school for dragonets._ He thought, barely having enough time to open his wings. Winter closed his eyes and braced for impact.

Instead of feeling horrible pain, he heard a loud grunt and felt himself being held in the air. When he reopened his eyes, Winter saw that Umber had caught him. Winter had braced his left claw into Umber's right and Umber's other claw was on the top of Winter's leg.

The two stared at each other, for far too long, at least for Winter. Umber's face turned slightly red and Winter wheezed a thank you before quickly hopping into the water.

The water should have been relaxing, but all that Winter could think of was the awkward predicament the two of them had just engaged in. Winter ran his claws between it, not daring to break the silence. After 3 minutes of silence, he sat on a round rock and sighed.

"Well Umber," He said. "I'm glad you wanted to get out of the prey center, too. I was getting tired of it."

"I know what you mean." Umber swam through the water. "It's so loud and cramped. I feel like something terrible will happen, but we won't be able to hear it." He positioned himself on the rock next to Winters.

"Indeed. Plus, the feeling of dragons breathing down your neck as you simply eat is terrible." Winter shuddered. "And the dragons we sit with…." He sighed once more.

"…Yes?" Umber asked cautiously.

"I enjoy their company, but only in small doses." Winter said, attempting to not sound cruel. "Kinkajou is a lot to handle, Turtle is too quiet, Peril is too distant, and Moon and Qibli…." He paused. "Moon is nice and all, so is Qibli, but they…they…"

Umber said nothing and allowed him to think. He just looked at Winter encouragingly.

Winter sighed once more. "Do you promise you can keep a secret?" Winter asked semi-sternly. "You're the only dragon I can trust with this, ok?"

"Yes of course." Umber nodded.

"I….I used to have a crush on Moon." Winter forced out. He turned to Umber, expecting him to laugh heartily.

Umber instead simply said "Oh, she is a nice dragon."

Winter nodded very slowly and continued. "I don't feel that way about her anymore, but I always feel awkward around her, like she's silently judging me for it."

"But why would she judge you?" Umber asked caringly.

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Winter huffed. "My anger mainly just comes from the fact that she ended up with Qibli. Anyone else I would be able to handle, but Qibli? He's just so…." Winter clenched his fists. "Infuriating."

"Maybe she sees past that." Umber suggested. "Maybe she sees him as a good dragon who just wants to make dragons laugh. And occasionally annoy some."

Winter let out a long breath. "You're right. Besides, Qibli will treat her right. It's simply logic that she would go with the rugged and handsome, I guess, dragon."

"It's perfectly normal to feel the way you feel, Winter." Umber agreed. "In fact, I feel the same way when they sit at the table. It's a reason why I haven't been around them this year, either."

"Wait, you have a crush on Moon?" Winter reared back slightly. _I would never have thought him to like her, she doesn't seem like his type._

"Well…..not exactly." Umber lowered his eyebrows worriedly. "Can I tell you something?"

 _Not exactly? What does that mean?_

"Of course." Winter answered honestly.

"You can't tell anyone else, not a soul." Umber persisted.

"Yes Umber, I won't. I promise." Winter placed a claw on his chest, above his heart. "I swear." _What could possibly be so important that it garners this kind of reaction from him._

"Here goes nothing." Umber said under his breath. "Ok Winter…" He neared Winter and whispered quietly. "I'm…I'm gay. I had a crush on Qibli."

"Oh." Winter said, much louder than he meant. "I mean, that's good. Well, for you. Wait, I don't mean it like that. I-"

 _Oh, heavens above. No, wait. This shouldn't affect our friendship. He was gay before, that doesn't change anything._

"It's ok." Umber strained a small smile.

Winter's mind became a mess of thoughts that he could barely decipher. "Uhh.." He wanted to break the awkward silence. "But why him?" He slapped a talon across his mouth.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid. Now you've gone and done it Winter. First you diss Qibli and then you ask that? This is supposed to be an important moment for our friendship, not something that would turn him away from me. I wouldn't be surprised if Umber promptly slapped me and stopped being around me._

"No, no, that's a good question." Umber shrugged slightly. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. There was just something about him, I guess. Its hard to describe. You may say that he's 'Infuriating', but I saw him as confident. Rugged and handsome, as you described." Umber paused. "Gorgeous." Winter pretended not to notice the slight red flush on his snout.

"But then, Qibli went with Moon." Umber sighed. "I knew that it would be too good to be true to think that he would ever like me." He gritted his teeth. "I could have sworn that he was bi…." Umber said under his breath.

"No, don't say that." Winter shook his head. "Maybe Qibli is straight. And if he's not, then he missed out on a good dragon." Umber smiled at Winter.

"Thanks." He said. Winter nodded. Then they sat quietly again.

"Thank you for trusting me with your information, Umber." Winter pulled himself together slightly. "I won't tell anyone."

"And our friendship isn't going to fall apart or anything, right?" Umber seemed concerned.

Winter hesitated before answering, once more touched to be mentioned as a friend. "Indubitably. It won't."

"Good." Umber smiled genuinely. There was an uncomfortably long silence before Umber spoke again. "I guess we should head to bed."

"Yes, we should." Winter answered, sounding more like a robot than a dragon. Umber practically launched himself out of the water, while Winter needed assistance from him. The two didn't make any eye contact as Umber grabbed Winter's claw and pulled him out of the water.

More silence greeted them as they walked to their dorm. Umber heaved himself into his bed and Winter took as long as possible to douse all the torches and close the window. When he finally arrived at his bed, Umber had already fallen asleep.

Almost instinctively, Winter covered Umber in his blanket. Once he placed his own blanket over him, thoughts raced through his head.

 _Ok, so Umber is gay._

 _Does that mean that I'm going to begin questioning everything he does? Or everything I do?_

 _Just like how I gave him a hug last night? Or how I stood up for him when Alba began teasing? Or how Umber and I stared into each other's eyes as he awkwardly caught me._ Winter rubbed his talons against his forehead and groaned.

 _No Winter. Those were acts of friendship. That last one was rather embarrassing, but it was something dragons do for each other. You helped him, he helped you; End of story._

 _Then why can't I stop thinking about him?_ Winter's tail whipped angrily. _Is that normal, too? When Qibli was my roommate, I could stop. When Icicle and I shared a room, I barely thought of her. But then again, those were different. Qibli was annoying as sin and Icicle is my bratty sister. I didn't enjoy any time spent with them._

Winter's head turned to glimpse at Umber once more. _I like this dragon's company. Do I like him? I guess, but as a friend._

 _I hope._


End file.
